Knee replacement in a few days

@shark. I have always hated recliners and could not see myself ever using one. I have RA and just had TKR. I would not have made it thru without my recliner. Mine keeps my legs pretty straight and part of my therapy is straightening my knee. Unless you stay in bed all day( I would rather be dead) I’m not sure how you could keep legs elevated. Elevating helps swelling so it helps with pain. Every person is different so consult doctor and PT if you are concerned. I’m 8 weeks out and knee is pretty straight. Good luck to all working on recovery and bless my recliner!!!

Good luck with the surgery. Please let us know how you fared when you have a chance.

@july1955

Interesting reply. I had my TKR late yesterday afternoon so my comments should be taken with a few grains of salt because I did have a nerve block which should be blocking some pain signals for about 18 hours.

So far, about the only pain I am getting is from getting up from a chair and that is momentary. So your advice seems right on. I find that it is easier to push off of the arms of my recliner than the walker (my surgeon told me to be a couch potato for the first week and to use the damn (my word since I want to walk without it) walker for the week.

Before my surgery I not only had pain including when standing up but every time I got up I felt I was in danger of falling since I had to support from my right knee. Now while there is some pain on standing, there is not any instability.

@steveinarizona My cousin had her knee done this week. Her admit time was 12 noon. She said the same thing about being NPO. Perhaps the Docs have office visits in the a.m. then surgeries the rest of the day. Best wishes to you.

@shark the part you’re missing about the recliner is the need for pillows .A bed pillow or 2 under your ankles leaves your leg straight . I’ve slept in my recliner for 4 weeks and my leg is 100% straight 🙂 ..

I had double replacements and spent hours in my recliner with great results . Now at 12 weeks my recovery has gone great .. I sleep in bed but ice in my recliner

I am about 40 hours post surgery. My surgeon used a muscle/tendon sparing subversus approach and did a bicruciate retaining implant (both PCL and ACL were kept and not cut) and a functional alignment of my very misaligned knee. I was in surgery for a bit more than an hour because the bicruciate work is more complex and takes longer and the functional alignment also takes a bit longer than the traditional mechanical alignment.

The nerve block has worn off. I have a lot of bruising and pain when I need to bend the knee at all (hence getting out of a chair is painful and I tend to keep my surgical leg extended) but sleeping was not a problem and standing with my walker is fine. My surgeon wants me to be a couch potato for the first week. He tells me that the pain now is about as bad as it is going to get so I have skipped taking any oxycodone. Just some extra strength tylenol and celebrex.

Before the surgery on October 1st, I challenged the surgeon to get me back on the golf course when my course reopened after overseed on November 7th. He agreed that it was an aggressive target but he accepted my challenge.

All told, after such a complex TKR I feel extremely fortunate that Dr. Chow was my surgeon. There are not many who could have successfully done what he just did.

@shandra: Good on your recovery! Yup that is what I stressed in my statement "the semi flexed recliner knee" is not a good deal; PT and surgeon told me it had to be straight. Glad you kept it straight while reclining. Like another gentlemen said, an Ottoman works well too to keep it straight. And also with an ottoman you can lean into it to help stretch that hamstring and push down on the upper thigh. Best health & wishes to everyone on here!

@lgreg I am very glad that you have rehabbed well! May you be Blessed with many years of newfound energy and ambulation!

I hope when you read this you are on the other side of angst and beginning your (well-known) path to recovery.

@shandra

Shandra is right in the need for extra pillows on top of the extended footrest. I hope no one thought they should sleep with the footrest down. I stacked two or three throw pillows on the side of the footrest with my surgical leg so my single leg was raised above horizontal level. The ideal knee height is at or above heart level.